Clock Tower: The First Fear
Clock Tower is a point and click survival horror game and the first installment in the Clock Tower series. It was developed and published by Human Entertainment for the SNES on September 14, 1995 in Japan. It was released on the Japanese Virtual Console for both Nintendo Wii on August 3, 2010 (Japan) and Nintendo Wii U on November 6, 2013. Clock Tower: The First Fear is an enhanced port of the game, released for the PC on March 28, 1997 and for the PlayStation on July 17, 1997, both in Japan. The PC version had a budget re-release in 1999 and onwards. The First Fear was released as a PlayStation Classic on the Japanese PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3 on November 9, 2011. The subtitle is often kept to distinguish between the sequel, which was released as Clock Tower. A port to the WonderSwan was released on December 9, 1999 in Japan, although this version is in black-and-white and is considered inferior. The game was never released outside of Japan, however, the SNES version was unofficially translated into English and a few other languages.http://www.romhacking.net/translations/302/ The PC version was fan translated. The PS1 version is currently being fan-translated into English and other languages. http://w11.zetaboards.com/dontcryjennifer/topic/7405857/1/ There is an upcoming survival horror game inspired by this game, titled Remothered. Gameplay Clock Tower is a 2D point-and-click style game, where the player controls a cursor to direct the main character, Jennifer Simpson, and give commands such as investigating objects or opening doors. The player can only move Jennifer left and right through the environment, although there are some rooms in which an action requires Jennifer to step into the background. Clock Tower is different from other adventure games of the era in that it features a stalker pursuing the main character; this delays puzzle solving and requires the player to run in order to find objects or hiding places to fend off or avoid the attacker. The stalker is a slasher villain, named Bobby Barrows (Scissorman), who wields a large pair of scissors. If directly confronted by Bobby, Jennifer is sent into a panic (shown by the background of her portrait flashing red and blue) and the player must repeatedly tap the "panic button" to struggle with the attacker. If the player does not tap the panic button fast enough, Bobby will attack Jennifer and a "game over" will result. Although the game refers to it as Jennifer's health, the color of the background where her face is shown changes to represent her current fear level. Blue means she is in a calm state, while yellow means she is startled, orange meaning she is alarmed, and finally red, where she will begin to panic. In red, she is more likely to be attacked during a direct confrontation with Bobby. Additionally, while running away from Bobby, there is a chance Jennifer might trip over her feet, making her vulnerable if Bobby is close by and lowering her health by one level. Many of Bobby’s appearances are triggered by the player inspecting certain objects, but there are some cases in which he will come out of a hiding place and chase Jennifer as soon as she enters a room. He can also appear randomly if Jennifer has not triggered him for a certain amount of time. Plot Jennifer Simpson, an orphan from Granite Orphanage in Romsdalen, Norway, along with her friends Laura Harrington, Anne and Lotte, are adopted in September 1995 by a wealthy recluse named Simon Barrows and are escorted to his mansion by his wife, Mary. The mansion is known as the "Clock Tower", named after its most predominant feature, and the girls are eager to live in their new home. The game immediately begins with the five of them walking towards the Barrows mansion and settling in the main foyer. Mary instructs them to wait there in the foyer and leaves to find Mr. Barrows, but she takes an unusually long time. Jennifer offers to investigate, but upon leaving the room, a scream is heard from the main foyer. Jennifer returns to find the lights are off and the girls are missing. She soon finds herself being stalked after finding either Laura or Anne killed by a murderous little boy with deformed features, wielding a huge pair of scissors. Laura's corpse would be found hanged at the bathtub, or found in a suit of armor if the player dares to click on it, while Anne would die either by being impaled through a stained-glass ceiling, being thrown through a window, or drowning in the pool of the courtyard. The boy is Bobby Barrows, the Scissorman, who will be Jennifer's main stalker and tormentor for the rest of the game. While exploring the mansion, Jennifer will need to find out Mary's true evil intentions - either by discovering Simon Barrows (her supposed new guardian) trapped in a jail cell inside the courtyard, or by discovering her father's corpse in a hidden room. If the former happens, Jennifer will need to give him a piece of ham as food. If the latter happens, Jennifer will find his death letter that tells of his account about Mary Barrows and her twins, Bobby and Dan. It says that he was trapped there for three days, until his death on November 10, 1986. Jennifer must visit a small, Satanic church-esque area beneath the mansion if she is to defeat Mary, Bobby, and Dan (the last of whom she is still unaware of) and maybe save one of her friends. However, to obtain the key to this area, Jennifer has to fight off a possessed doll in Bobby's nursery room to obtain a key and therefore start a chain of events that will lead to finding other items and clues; if the player has collected all the necessary items and clues, then Jennifer is able to gain access to the underground catacombs of the mansion through the discovery of either the Demon Idol or the Scepter, but the former is canonical as it appears in the sequel. Jennifer sees a cloaked figure walking ahead of her; this is Mary. She follows it, wearing a disguise to fool the guard dog using Mary's perfume, and a black cloak found in the mansion. If she did not need to rescue Jennifer from the jail cell, Lotte can be found dying at an altar, and tells Jennifer about the switches in the clock tower. Otherwise, she rescues Jennifer from the jail cell, but is shot by an angry Mary, who appears to be frustrated that Jennifer has made it this far. Jennifer enters a room, where she discovers the humongous Dan Barrows, hidden within curtains. At that point, the awakened Dan chases down Jennifer to a steep cliff. She successfully climbs over, accidentally knocking down a can of kerosene which splashes onto a nearby candle. This triggers an explosion and burns up Dan, and Jennifer rides an elevator in the catacombs. She ends up defeating Bobby in the clock tower, and Mary as well in (or around, depending on prior actions) the clock tower. If Anne (or Laura) had not died yet, then this survivor would reunite with Jennifer at the clock tower, but either later be thrown down the tower by Mary, or join Jennifer for the credits, depending on prior actions. These actions would lead to one of Endings S, A, B, or C - all except Ending S could be canonical according to the events of the next game. Because of the game's open-ended nature, the player can also discover a number of other endings. Endings Ending S: Upon reaching the top of the Clock Tower, Jennifer finds Anne/Laura lying down on the floor unconscious. As Bobby shows up ready to strike at Jennifer, she flips the two switches on the tower. Bobby hears the bells ringing and, unable to bear the sound, falls into the gears of the tower below. After he falls, Jennifer walks over to Anne/Laura, only to hear Mary tell Jennifer from the shadows what a terrible daughter she's been. She proceeds to run after Jennifer, choking her from behind. Suddenly a flock of crows (including the one Jennifer saved earlier) come out and begin to peck at Mary, pushing her over the edge of the tower entrance. Jennifer then wakes up Anne/Laura as they proceed outside of the tower, watching as the rain stops and the sun rises. This ending is obtained by only seeing two friends die, free the crow, visit Walter's room, and choose the 3rd floor on the elevator. Jennifer and Anne/Laura were the survivors of the incident. Ending A: Same as above, but instead of Anne/Laura lying on the ground, they run towards Jennifer after Bobby is killed, only for Mary to come out of the shadows and throw her into the clock tower gears. Jennifer then struggles with Mary as the crows push her off the tower. Jennifer stands atop the tower alone watching the sun rise in the distance. This ending is obtained by finding Simon Barrows in the jail cell, seeing only two friends die, free the crow, and choose the 3rd floor on the elevator. This ending is canon to the series because Jennifer was the only survivor of the incident. Ending B: Same as Ending S, but Anne and Laura are both killed at this point. Mary comes out of the shadows and struggles with Jennifer, only for Jennifer to force her into the generator that she used to activate the tower, electrocuting Mary to death. Jennifer stands atop the tower alone watching the sun rise in the distance. This ending is obtained either by seeing all friends die or failing to free the crow. This ending is considered canon to the series. Ending C: As Jennifer exits the elevator, she encounters Mary. As Jennifer is questioning why she is doing this to her and her friends, Mary attempts to stab her. Jennifer escapes her clutches and dashes past her, running towards the ladder outside as Mary screams for Bobby to kill Jennifer for the death of Dan. Jennifer climbs up the ladder as Mary follows close by, grabbing one of her legs. Jennifer eventually kicks her off and Mary falls off the tower to her death below. As Jennifer reaches the top, Bobby closes in behind her and she activates the switches to the tower. The noise starts affecting Bobby as he throws his scissors to the ground and stumbles off the tower into the gears below. Jennifer walks outside and watches as the rain slows and the sun rises in the distance. This ending is obtained by seeing all friends die, visit Walter's room, and go to the 2nd floor on the elevator. This ending is considered canon to the series. Ending D: Jennifer exits the elevator on the second floor, only to find Mary waiting for her. Since she didn't find the note on her father's body, Jennifer doesn't know about Mary murdering him. Mary comforts Jennifer by telling her she's safe now, and Jennifer runs over to hug her. However, Mary brandishes a knife and stabs Jennifer in the chest with it. With her last dying breath, Jennifer asks "Why?" and falls to the ground. This ending is obtained being trapped in the jail cell with Simon Barrows, seeing all friends die, and choosing the 2nd floor on the elevator. Ending E: Inside the elevator, Jennifer presses the button for the third floor, and the elevator suddenly halts. Bobby breaks into the elevator through an overhead vent, Jennifer screams and the screen fades to black. Ending F: If Jennifer does not see Lotte die, she will continue the game normally until the elevator sequence. Upon entering the elevator, the doors close. Bobby attacks Jennifer off-screen, and blood seeps from under the elevator doors. Ending G: If Jennifer sees two of her friends die, she will leave in the car, escaping the mansion and return to the orphanage. Jennifer is then found dead three days later in her room. The cause of this ending is unclear; the most common theories that she is killed by one or more of the Barrows, or that Jennifer suicided over the loss of her friends. Ending H: This ending is considered the worst. Jennifer stumbles across a car in the garage, and finds the key in a crate. She is unable to leave her friends in the mansion, but after three attempts to enter the car, she eventually gives in and escapes, driving through the wall of the shed. Jennifer looks into the mirror and sees a pair of scissors rising from the back seat. Jennifer appears shocked, screams, and the screen fades to black. The First Fear changes The game was ported to the Sony PlayStation in 1997, titled Clock Tower: The First Fear. This version took the advantage of the newer 32-bit hardware of the Sony PlayStation, and added new sounds, scenes, and FMVs to enhance the experience. This version is Japan exclusive. *Scenes added: **The TV in the Den will turn on and show a scene of white noise with a vague image of Dan. **In the bedroom with the parrot, there will be a scene showing the parrot. **In the Hutch Room, when examining the crow's corpse, the scene will show the crow decapitated with a cleaver. *In the Taxidermy Room, when going to the far left and examining the closet, Jennifer will find a mummified corpse (this can be seen in the original version, but will not come to life) which will come to life and chase Jennifer. In order to get rid of the corpse, Jennifer must find the green dagger located in the box before opening the closet and stab the corpse with it, causing it to fall apart. This is required to release the crows in the Hutch Room, as the corpse drops the Hutch Key. The corpse can kill Jennifer in one hit. *In the Play Room, the small mannequin is not the only doll that will attack Jennifer, as the red clown doll can also attack. *A new cinematic explaining how Dan was able to be the new Scissorman in Clock Tower. Shortly after being incinerated, after Jennifer escapes the room, it shows an ashen faced boy rise from Dan's ashes, looking roughly the same age as Bobby. *There is a new room. In the original, there was a door in the west wing hallway that is uninteractable. In The First Fear, the room is like the bedroom but has glass on the beds and the light is shattered. There is a mirror but Jennifer just touches her hair and nothing happens. *In the bedroom with the parrot, there is a chance when looking at the mirror it will shatter and scare Jennifer. *The photo of Bobby and Dan in the same room can be inspected, just like in the original version, but creepy music plays this time. WonderSwan port In 1999, the PlayStation version of The First Fear was ported to the WonderSwan. This version is considered inferior. Due to the system's small black-and-white screen, aesthetic changes had to be made to the game; the graphics are not as detailed, text appears in the upper-left-hand corner on top of the game, and Jennifer's health is monitored by three dots on the side of the screen rather than a portrait, which is not present. The player cannot view their entire inventory at one time; they must push a button to scroll the cursor through all the items. This version of the game does include a pause function. Neither the WonderSwan nor the PlayStation port were released outside of Japan, and there are currently no translations of the port. Trivia * The story is loosely based on and inspired by Dario Argento's 1985 film Phenomena which stars Jennifer Conelly as Jennifer Corvino, who heavily inspired the character and look of Jennifer Simpson. * Along with Project Firestart (1989), Alone in the Dark (1992), Night Trap (1992), The 7th Guest (1993), Jack in the Dark (1993), Alone in the Dark 2 (1993), Doctor Hauzer (1994), Alone in the Dark 3 (1994), D'' (1995), ''Phantasmagoria (1995), The 11th Hour (1995) and'' Resident Evil'' (1996), Clock Tower was one of the first survival horror games. External links * Official page in the Nintendo Virtual Console (Japanese) See also * Clock Tower ~The First Fear~ Prologue * Clock Tower ~The First Fear~ - Method to capture victory Category:Games